Wan Noorulazhar's Wrongful Dismissal Case - Mediation fails, next mention on 2/8/2013

UPDATE:

The wrongful dismissal case of Wan Noorulazhar bin Mohd Hanafiah came up for an attempt at mediation at the Industrial Court in Kuala Lumpur today(2/7/2013), but alas the attempt was unsuccessful.

The Industrial Court Chairman then fixed the case for mention on 2/8/2013. It has now been almost TWO(2) years since Wan Noorulazhar has allegedly been wrongfully dismissed.

The problem now with the Industrial Court is that even if the Industrial Court comes to a decision that Wan Noorulazhar has been wrongfully dismissed, the chances are slim that the court will order RENESAS to reinstate him without loss of benefits. The alternative order would be 'compensation in lieu of reinstatement', and the Industrial Relations Act now limits this to not more than twenty four(24) months backwages and then there is a lot of other deductions. 

[Before the Act was amended, compensation in lieu of reinstatement was backwages(and other increments/bonuses that a worker would have got if not dismissed) from the date of wrongful dismissal until the date of the Industrial Court judgment - this was fair. The amendment has also made wrongful dismissal cases of workers earning small income less attractive to lawyers resulting in difficulty getting lawyers.

RENESAS is still not willing to reinstate him. We hope that they will change their mind, reinstate immediately Wan Noorulazhar and also immediately recognize the UNION. Recognition of the UNION is necessary before the Union can begin negotiating and getting a Collective Bargaining Agreement with RENESAS.

Wan Noorulazhar bin Mohd Hanafiah, an employee of RENESAS who is the President of the UNION was dismissed on 26/8/2011 by RENESAS whereby the alleged misconduct, was that his actions were ‘contrary to explicit company policies’. He allegedly made statements about treatment of workers in a closed Facebook Group, whose members were fellow workers. The alleged misconduct It had nothing to do with his work performance. The wrongful dismissal case is now before the Industrial court.

Wan Noorulazhar bin Mohd Hanafiah is also the President of the Electronic Industry Employees Union Western Region, Peninsular Malaysia (EIEUWR)/ Kesatuan Sekerja Industri Elektronik Wilayah Barat Semenjung Malaysia(KSIEWBSM).